Q&A: Brooklyn’s 6th Grade Heavy Metal Band

From left, bass player Alec Atkins, 12, of Crown Heights, drummer Jarad Dawkins, 11, from Bedford-Stuyvesant and guitarist Malcolm Brickhouse, 12, from Flatbush, played on the corner of Broadway and West 39th Street last Saturday.

By Carmel Melouney

Brooklyn has long been a breeding ground for musicians, producing hip-hop and alt-rock acts like Jay-Z, the Beastie Boys and Interpol. But it is not known as a hotbed of heavy metal.

The latest Brooklyn band to attract widespread attention, though, is just that, and what’s more, the three members of heavy metal band Unlocking The Truth are in the sixth grade.

Guitarist Malcolm Brickhouse, 12 years old, from Flatbush, and drummer Jarad Dawkins, 11, from Bedford-Stuyvesant, formed the band in 2007, when they were just five years old. Bassist Alec Atkins, 12, of Crown Heights, now joins them.

The band became a viral hit last week when online magazine The Avant/Garde Diaries posted a video about them on video-sharing site Vimeo.

Metropolis caught up with the polite and earnest trio on Saturday when they performed their final free public gig in Times Square.

“We would do this twice a month, but this is the last one—they’ve got the buzz they need and now they’re getting booked for gigs,” said Malcolm’s mother, Annette Jackson, who along with his father, Tracey Brickhouse, took the boys to Broadway and West 39th Street for their gig outside Capital One Bank.

“I grew up on Soul Train and American Bandstand, but you give them the respect to do their thing. It’s their own music, they’re not doing covers—anyone can do covers,” said Ms. Jackson.

WSJ: When did the band start?

Malcolm: The band started in 2007 when Jarad asked me to play in the band because we used to watch wrestling shows, and the background music is heavy metal. That got my attention, and we really wanted to play that kind of music.

Jarad: I thought for us, it would be very creative, and how one day, people would be admiring our music and why do we do it.

WSJ: The name, Unlocking The Truth, where does that come from?

Jarad: When we started we had a singer, and during that time we had him with us we had made a list of band names and Unlocking The Truth got the most votes.

WSJ: What do you think about unlocking truth; do you think as kids you guys can offer adults a different take on truth?

Malcolm: Um…

WSJ: Most kids your age today like pop music or dance music or hip-hop or rap. Why do you guys like metal? What is it about heavy metal?

Malcolm: The style of music really got my attention because it’s exciting. It’s not the same; every other music genre sounds the same. It’s just a different style of music that caught my attention.

Alec: I like heavy metal because of the art form and the uniqueness. The part about being different from everyone else.

WSJ: What’s your inspiration when you sit down to write song. Do you think about things that happened to you that week?

Malcolm: That’s exactly what happens! I base it on what happened in my life, lyric-wise, and with the melody I just play around with the guitar.

WSJ: Do you hope the band is influential to other young people your age? Do you hope other people say, “Hey, maybe we can do that too?”

Jarad: That’s the point of our music, to inspire kids to do what they wanna do. Not kids but people of every age, to do what they wanna do. To be free.

WSJ: What do you guys want to do when you finish high school, do you hope to be full-time musicians as adults?

Jarad: That’s our dream.

Malcolm: Yeah!

WSJ: Why do you like being in a band?

Jarad: Music is another language. It speaks to people. I mean, probably a lot of people don’t notice it but music is our inspiration. To me, without music, where would we be today?

WSJ: And is it fun to be in a band?

Malcolm: It’s fun. It’s pretty difficult at times.

WSJ: Like when it’s hot on a Saturday and you have to set up all your gear in Times Square?

Malcolm: Yeah!

Jarad: Yeah!

Alec: Yeah!

WSJ: Who’s your biggest fan? Is it your parents?

Malcolm: Well my dad just told me that I got a tweet from some little 12-year-old girl who posted my name!

WSJ: How does that make you feel, the fact that people are tweeting about you and watching videos of you on the Internet?